{"id":17841,"date":"2020-10-23T08:36:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T12:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/?p=17841"},"modified":"2022-07-19T15:56:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T19:56:07","slug":"why-the-war-on-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/why-the-war-on-sweet\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the War on Sweet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Keith Ayoob, EdD, RDN, FAND &#8212;<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t mean sugar, or what we think of as \u201csweets\u201d, like pastries, candy, cookies, and the like.&nbsp; I mean the entire phenomenon of sweet taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sugar per se, including white sugar, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, and all the sugar equivalents like dextrose, glucose, etc., seems to have become the new trans-fat, meaning that there\u2019s nothing good about them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cketo\u201d craze takes it to the max, demonizing carbohydrates in general, but in all low-carb diets, added sugar is the first thing to go.&nbsp; Any of the popular, dare I say, \u201cfad\u201d, diets also demonize sugar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cculture of sweet\u201d seems to have changed, such that even having a fondness of sweetness is frowned upon.&nbsp; Watch a judged cooking series (other than those specifically about desserts) for very long and you\u2019ll often find a chef on the panel who claims he\u2019s \u201cnot really a sweets guy, I\u2019m a savory guy,\u201d or something similar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When sweets are eaten, they must be enjoyed with guilt:&nbsp; a delicious dessert is \u201csinful\u201d or it tastes so good it \u201cshould be illegal.\u201d&nbsp; Sweetened beverages have taken much of the criticism in the war on sweetness.&nbsp; Merely mention soda and people not only wince, but feel righteous about saying they never drink soda and would never allow their kids to drink them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sugar: We\u2019re Eating Less<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1999, we ate an average of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2016\/12\/13\/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">90.2 pounds of sugar per year<\/a> As of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sugar.org\/diet\/intake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">2017<\/a>, we reduced this to 75 pounds per year, or about 373 calories per day.&nbsp; Better, but still too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2015-20 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended having no more than 10% of our total calories from added sugars, or about 200 calories in the 2000-calorie reference diet.&nbsp; The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recently submitted their recommendations for the 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines and took things to the next level and lowered the recommendation to 6% of total calories, about 120 calories per day in the reference diet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This calls for a drastic reduction from current consumption.&nbsp; Basically, one 12-oz soda and it\u2019s over.&nbsp; No sugar in your coffee or tea, definitely no sweet desserts.&nbsp; Clearly, careful \u201cspending\u201d of sugar calories is required.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>It\u2019s About More Than Sugar<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite their lack of calories, LNCS haven\u2019t escaped the evil eye in the war on sweet, even though most LNCS are, dietetically, calorie-free.&nbsp; A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/20\/well\/eat\/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-weight-gain-diet-weight-loss.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">recent article in the New York Times<\/a> pointed out that LNCS have not been able to solve the obesity crisis, and that more LNCS options have accompanied a continued rise in obesity rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This \u201cassociation\u201d makes no sense because no single intervention should be held responsible for solving the obesity crisis.&nbsp; LNCS were intended to be a tool for use by anyone wanting less added sugars in their diets, regardless of weight status. This might be an overweight person, a person living with diabetes, or a healthy-weight consumer who would simply like some variety in their choices of beverages and foods but with less added sugar.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bottom line: LNCS are a tool.&nbsp; All tools have to be used judiciously and with purpose.&nbsp; They can help eliminate excesses of added sugar, but not excesses of total calories if other areas of the diet are providing that excess.&nbsp; Using them to cut back on added sugar will not help your waistline if you overeat in other areas of the diet or are not also more physically active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, LNCS can be a safe and useful tool to help you cut your intake of added sugars down to the recommended maximum of 6% of total calories.&nbsp; They can also help you enjoy nutrient-rich foods like sweetened yogurt with less added sugar.&nbsp; Years of robust research has shown them to be safe and beneficial for helping people improve their diet quality.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for worrying that the use of LNCS will \u201cdumb-down\u201d your taste buds and having you wanting sweeter and sweeter foods, relax and try this test: Can you still eat a piece of fresh fruit or a fruit salad without wanting it sweeter?&nbsp; Do you still willingly drink water?&nbsp; If your answer is \u201cyes\u201d, then your taste buds are fine.&nbsp; If you answered \u201cno\u201d, then you taste buds may need a reset.&nbsp; Keep in mind however, that even persons who prefer foods that are more savory than sweet can have \u201cdumbed-down\u201d taste buds and need some healthy moderation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Keith_Ayoob-headshot-HiRes-square-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Keith_Ayoob-headshot-HiRes-square-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Keith_Ayoob-headshot-HiRes-square-150x150-95x95.jpg 95w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keith Ayoob, EdD, RDN, FAND,\u00a0<\/strong>is an Associate Clinical Professor Emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. As a pediatric nutritionist and registered dietitian, Dr. Ayoob is also a past national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Ayoob is a consultant with the Calorie Control Council Advisory Board and the Global Stevia Institute (GSI), GSI is supported by PureCircle Ltd, a global leader in purified stevia leaf extract production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Keith Ayoob, EdD, RDN, FAND &#8212; I don\u2019t mean sugar, or what we think of as \u201csweets\u201d, like pastries, candy, cookies, and the like.&nbsp; I mean the entire phenomenon of sweet taste. Sugar per se, including white sugar, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, and all the sugar equivalents like dextrose, glucose, etc., seems to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diabetes-month-hcp","category-health-profesionals"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why the War on Sweet? - Calorie Control Council<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/why-the-war-on-sweet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the War on Sweet? - Calorie Control Council\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Keith Ayoob, EdD, RDN, FAND &#8212; I don\u2019t mean sugar, or what we think of as \u201csweets\u201d, like pastries, candy, cookies, and the like.&nbsp; I mean the entire phenomenon of sweet taste. 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